Fallout 10mm SMG Prop Build Part 1

In the deep dark recesses of my memory I recall a time before the weight of the world had crushed my optimism. A time where summers were endless. A time long before I’d learned of the great shame that comes with such tired clichés. During this mythical “better time” the Fallout franchise got a couple of new games and I devoted hours to scouring the wastelands of DC and New Vegas, mostly for dirty water as far as I recall. But, to cut a pointless story down to meandering mid-length babble, I love the visual identity of the Fallout universe. The Fallout 10mm SMG has been in various editions of the game, but the version from Fallout: New Vegas has a particularly charming visual approach. Part MP5, part Meccano set – whoever designed this badboy had a whale of a time adding in details. After finishing the Saruman Staff a couple of weeks ago I was looking for a new project and the Fallout 10mm SMG prop build seemed like it would be the right blend of fun and challenging.

How I Built My Fallout 10mm SMG Prop

Like all projects, the Fallout 10mm SMG build started with extensive planning. Time spent researching and planning methods of construction will pay dividends later in the build. I’m writing this down, not to patronise you, but to remind myself of this self-evident reality, as all too often I go charging into a build like Dogmeat in a minefield. In the case of the Fallout 10mm SMG, I put together these handy plans in Illustrator. Please feel free to use/modify them as you wish, but bear in mind they are only a rough guide. I also decided to 3D model the front sight and flash suppressor, you can download the files for these parts here if you’re that way inclined.

After printing out the templates for the Fallout 10mm SMG I glued them down onto the appropriate thickness of MDF using a glue stick. Spray glue works better for this, but I’m a skinflint, and spraymount is far too expensive for this type of work!

The main body is laminated from two sheets of 12mm MDF.

Having cut out the major parts of the gun, I stacked the main pieces to get a feel for what the completed SMG would look like. This wasn’t just for the sake of vanity, but to check for any errors I may have made in the templates.

After cutting out the main body profile with my overworked and underpaid bandsaw I drilled a bunch of holes in a daisy-chain for the trigger guard. It’s best to use a pillar drill for this type of work… right angles yeah? I connected the holes using a coping saw. If you don’t have a pillar drill, you will get more accurate results with a saw. Alternatively, remove most of the material with a Forstner bit if you have one. The fun thing about making is that there are usually dozens of ways to approach a problem.

Here we have the cut-out trigger guard of the fallout 10mm SMG after a little cleaning up with some sand paper and the sanding drum in my rotary tool. These things eat MDF like a drunk with a Kebab. Take your time!

I started to rough out the shape of the hand grip with the rotary tool. I drew guidelines to make sure I wasn’t removing too much material. I kept comping back to this throughout the build, gradually refining the shape until I was happy.

I started to layer up the side panels, making sure that parts that I wouldn’t be able to access later were properly sanded.

The top layer contains some very delicate detail. I cut a couple of millimetres away from the line on the template to keep the part strong. I then soaked extra thin super glue into the material. This creates a super strong fibre composite material, that can be easily shaped, filed and sanded without fear of snapping the part.

The folding stock of the Fallout 10mm SMG prop is assembled from two pieces of 3mm MDF and connected with a piece of 12mm wooden dowel. The in-game model would never work properly, as it would have to fold through part of the body of the gun, as well as the fire selector and other details. The detail on the model is a bit lacking here, so I applied a little creative licence and used woodscrews with washers to connect the three pieces together.

That’s all for part one of the Fallout 10mm SMG prop build. I didn’t take a proper photo at this stage of construction due to my eagerness to get some sweet Instagram validation! Check out part 2 of build log here.

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DOGLESSProp Builder, carpet ruiner & public nuisance.

I’ve been making things since I was old enough to pronounce Lego. Consequently my maker life has been spent constructing, kit-bashing and scratch-building anything and everything that has taken my fancy. After dedicating my time to Wargaming, Model Armour & Railways, I stumbled across what has now become an obsession – Prop building.